Sunday Date

I got to have a date today with Arlene. We were all alone. There were no kids anywhere (ours anyway). We got grown up conversation all day long. We were able to watch not one but two movies. Grown up movies. No cartoons, no Princesses, no swords, no car chases, no superheroes, and no talking animals. Just 2 really, really good movies. With some really hot guys. And let me tell you, they were so yummy.
Both of these movies were so good. Seven pounds is a movie about an angst filled Will Smith, I can't tell you much about it without totally giving it away, but holy crap it was good. The Curious Case of Benjamin Buttons was about Brad Pitt aging backwards. He was born as a little old, ugly man. He was taken in my a wonderful lady who totally loved him and raised him as her own. It was so cool to watch the way this movie unfold and to watch a very yummy Brad Pitt grow younger and seriously hotter than I've ever seen him. Wow. It was such a great movie. Brad and Cate Blanchett have great chemistry together. They were amazing, an did I mention how freakin' hot Brad Pitt is? Again, 2 great movies. And might I say, the bestest friend in the world to have a 2 movie date kind of day with. Not to mention that we can be together and be so comfortable with each other. Even giggling when yet again, we get really sucky service at a restaurant, we missed out on Starbucks because of our really slow and crappy service at said restaurant and smiling when the 12 year old working behind the counter at the movie theater was a total diva. I love my Arleney. Fabulous movies and a fabulous date. And a fabulous day to have a date with my best friend. What more could a girl ask for?

Christmas Morning

Christmas is quite the event at our house, like most homes with little ones, the excitment can be overwhelming for the kids and stressful for the parents. This year was no different. Christmas Eve started off with dinner, new jammies or sleep pants for all of us, and Christmas stories. Then off to bed for the kids with wishes for Santa to bring the coolest stuff. At our house, Santa brings one thing and then all of us get something for each other. It doesn't seem like a ton, but with a family of 6 (7 with Val), it seem like the tree was loaded. So here's where the real adventure begins.
Santa Claus made it to the Bates' home. Look at all that loot. Santa spoiled us rotten. He must love us:)
My boys were crazy insane for Nerf guns this year. However they could get them. Spencer got 2 Nerf guns. One is called a long shot which Sara shopped so hard for and the other is a Gatling gun (whatever the heck that means) that Adam found for him. He also got a Nerf Wii game from me, movies from Todd and a ball thingy from Lily. Santa brought him a Didj. (Which is an advanced version of a leapster.) And a game and case to go with it. Santa also brought him a Star Wars DS game and candy in his stocking. He seemed very pleased with his haul. No complaining, only happy smiles and lots of shooting.
I don't know if Spencer thinks this is flattering or annoying but none less, Adam asked for almost the exact same things as Spencer did. He got 2 Nerf guns (same kinds as Spencer) from Sara and Spencer. He also got a Wii game called My Sims Kingdom from me, and a Lego chess set from Todd and Lily got him a marker coloring set thingy. Santa brought him a Didj with a game and a case also, but Santa didn't test it out very well and it will need to be returned to the North Pole for a replacement. He seemed ok with that. He had his guns. He could still fight Spencer. O' and he also got a Lego Batman DS game and yummy candy in his stocking.
I just hope the Elves aren't on vacation yet. I heard they were heading to Fiji for a break.
Miss Lily received a vanity set from Santa. She loved it. Todd got her the cupcake maker. I got her a dolly, Spencer got her a Dora Leapster game, Adam got her a Barbie and Sara got her a hot pink and black dance bag for her dance shoes and costumes. She also got a Barbie Christmas Carol movie which we've only watched once. (What the heck?) And her stocking had a Mommy and big sister that goes with her Doll house from last year and candy. (The Mommy from that doll house had a tradgic accident that somehow involved Adam and some missing arms. Lily just said she died. It was pretty sad. Poor Mommy.Poor Lily.)
Quick funny story. Last year we (or Todd rather) had a hard time getting Spencer to stay in bed. So this year the kids were warned that if they came out of their rooms for any other reason, than to go potty, I would text Santa and ask him to come back get everything that he left my kids. It worked, no peakers. And at the designated time of 6:01 am all the kids were up and ready, although not totally awake yet.
This year Sara was so funny. She was told over and over "No, No, No" when she started to open presents. (Todd even started keeping the tape in the tree. Like a pretty ornament:)
So, when it came time to open the presents she was a little unsure of whether this was allowed or not. She seemed hesitate at first but she quickly caught on and opened the presents with vigor and was even searching for more when hers were all opened up. She got a caterpillar ride on thingy from Santa. Her Daddy got her a Dolly house, I got her a Dolly, Spencer got her a baby (that she loves), Adam got her a Little People camper and Lily got her a clipo table thing. She was in heaven. It was a fun year with her and all the kids for that matter. Val got a
 really cool hair dryer that you can see through, a jacket, a shirt and a gift certificate to get her hair done.

I have to say that I was a Grinch for a while this year. It took me quite a while to 'get into the Spirit', but Christmas morning and all the kids faces will melt even the coldest of hearts and I again started loving Christmas. And I am thankful I have 364 days left to shop for the next one. Happy Holidays everyone.

Lazy Sunday

Today was filled with a whole lot of not much. Well, there was the re-organization of presents. The shuffling of presents. There was also the sitting and climbing on of presents. There was the 'is this one mine?' looking at of presents. Lily thought it would be a great idea to check out everything under the tree. And Sara soon followed. As you can see, there are lots and lots of things to do with wrapped presents.
O' yeah! There is also sitting on the presents. And snuggling the presents. Sara has done better with the presents than I thought. Babies this age love to rip the paper off the presents, but she has only ripped a few. I want to point out the supurb way the tree is decorated. From Sara's head up. That is the only way to decorate with a toddler around. She still manages to reach and pull off a lot of decorations. Fun, Fun.
I love this picture of Sara hugging the present. It's not even her's. She's so stinkin' cute.
Anyway, Lily and Sara spent quite a while moving presents around, making sure they were all ready for Christmas morning and Santa.
Meanwhile my boys, Todd included, played board games.
As you can see, Spencer was trying to tell Adam how to play the game and Adam was trying to be big and read the game stuff himself.
I think Todd kinda likes the days where he can channel his inner nerd and can play board games and role playing games with his boys. Especially Spencer, (Adam tends to get board easily) who will sit for hours playing games with his Daddy. These are the kind of games that take hours on end to play and finish. There is not enough time to get to do this most days, but since it was a lazy snow day, there was time. I have no idea what this game was about but they seemed to be enjoying it. It even kept Adam entertained.
So on our laziest day we've had in a very long time, we got presents re-organized, sat on, climbed on, and checked out for hug-ability. We got games played. Valerie and I got computer time, nap time, and T.V. time accomplished. We also rounded the kids up to help make a crap load of cookies. That was crazy, but, all in all, it was a great day to be lazy. Christmas time is here.

THANKS CASSIE

Cassie Garner made my blog page for me.....
Thank you so much. I love it.

Spencer's Christmas Program

 Tonight was Spencer's Christmas program. It was awesome. His music teacher (also guitar teacher) is one of the best I've ever seen. You can tell that she has put a lot of thought and effort, heart and soul into the programs that the kids are involved in. Wow. This year was about some kids who set out on a quest to see if Santa is real. And they find a North Pole filled with toys, elves, reindeer, and Santa and Mrs. Claus. The 5th graders got the lead parts and the 3rd and 4th grade were the elves who sang the songs. The kids were great. It was so funny to watch Spencer dancing around with the other kids, being a part of this wonderful program. He made such a cute elf. He was so excited to show Todd and I what his school was doing. Anyway, it was a great program, filled with so much fun and also very adorable elves.

Val is Home

Val is home, we shall rejoice with dance:)

Story Time With Sara and Lily

 There are a few new things that Sara has been doing. The first is that she has a lovey. We call it a wooby. She loves satiny things. And they just happen to be Lily's jammies. The wooby in this picture is Lily's jammie pants. She holds it and snuggles it up to her sweet little face. And she even wraps her babies with it. Like a little blanket. It's so cute and new territory for me. Out of 4 kids, I had yet to have one that has a lovey, but she definitely needs her wooby. The other thing is, is that she constantly wants to read. (I know, she's a mini-genius.) She'll grab a book, bring it to you where ever you are in the house, grunt at you, and then you must read. She does it with all of us, even Lily. And Lily takes her role as a big sister seriously and 'reads' to her everytime. I love it.

House Call from Santa...Wyoming Style

 Santa made house calls today.... Wyoming style. He was called my our town counsil and and hitched a ride on a trailer full of hay, pulled by a pick up truck.
 We heard sirens and looked out the window and saw that Santa was riding around. When the kids looked out the door, Santa waved them out. I think Santa wanted to check in and see if the kids were being naughty or nice. Hmmm...I wonder what they said. Was there fibbing or truth telling? Santa knows:)
 The pictures look kind of funny because I have been sick with a nasty cold and took the pictures from my livingroom window, hence the trees in the way. I should've sent the camera out with Todd, but my 'cold' brain does not allow rational thought.
 So, anyway, Santa making house calls Wyoming style totally rocks. And Santa had the chance to make sure the kids were being nice, with only a dash of naughty. Ho~Ho~Ho! Santa Claus is coming to Mountain View.

Tiny Princess Peanut Butter

 What a day. Crazy day. Sad day. First off I need to tell you that I am a loser Mom. I am almost 3months behind on Sara's immunizations. I've have never been such a slacker on something so important... until now. We got a little behind last winter because every time we scheduled an appointment, it snowed like hell and we couldn't make it to Evanston. But I had no excuse for not getting them on time this time of year. Except for the fact that I am a slacker Mom. Anyway, Todd and I headed to Evanston. We had several things to do. And so Sara's appointment was on and we headed to her pediatrician's office. (We love this pediatrician.) When we arrived we soon learned that Sara is 20lbs and 30 inches long. She is in the 10th percentile. WTF??!?!?! Todd and I looked at each other and the at the Dr. and we giggled. I can understand our baby being a little short, but not skinny. Now mind you when she was born she was 8 lbs. 1 oz. and 17 inches long. Yes 17 inches long. She looked like a little sausage. So cute. Anyway, by the time she was six months old she was 17 lbs. I don't remember how long, but she was in the 75th percentile for weight and 50 for height. Now my baby is is officially tiny. Sara's Doctor didn't seem worried. She said it's normal for toddlers to munch and not eat a ton. Still I was concerned. We also talked to the Doctor about a persistent diaper rash and eczema. She thought she might have a slight allergy to milk. Nothing to big. We'll cut back and see what happens. She also recommended different lotion and then proceeded to puncture my baby. Sara cried so bad. But it didn't last very long. So we are done for another 3 months. Hopefully she'll gain some weight and start fitting in with the rest of the family. My sweet little, tiny, itsy bitsy, teenie weenie Princess.

You Must Believe to Receive

 Every year the company Todd works for hosts a night where Santa makes a trip down from the North Pole and see's 'Solvay's' kids. Tonight, was the night. First off, I have to say that I have had an abundant amount of energy today. I really don't know why, but I got my house clean and dinner in the crock pot by 2:00 today. And that was with the 'help' of my two tiny Princesses. I know it, I rock. Ok. Well, as soon as Todd walked in the door after a 7 day set, we had dinner and went to see Santa. Spencer being the brave big brother that he is, went first. When we left the house we asked all the kids to think about what they want for Christmas. The thing that Spencer wants Santa is not allowed to bring. A new XBOX 360. Ours has what is called the red ring of death, which in Mommy terms means, 'it's broken and needs fixed'. And Spencer is desperate for his weekend gaming marathons, and truly, he doesn't seem to want much else. And that's what he told Santa. Now, my sweet little Spencer has known or rather thinks he knows the 'secret' behind Santa. He is a smart kid and puts certain things together along with listening to his friends, but we have a rule 'You must believe to recieve'. So I think some of the magic is lingering. At least I hope it is.
 Adam was also brave and hopped right up on Santa's lap and told him that he wanted a Nerf Gatling gun so he can practice shooting the trees. (Yeah right, only if his brother and sisters are considered trees.) We giggled at that. He also wants a huge Lego chess set and the Lego Death Star. Santa better start robbing a bank! And soon. Adam is so stinkin' cute. What a sweet boy.
 Lily was so excited to go see Santa. She was my little tiny mini me all day. Everything I did, she did and she was talking my head off about everything. (I really enjoy my afternoons with my girls.) She was really good all day. She had dance tonight, no lolly gagging, she ate all her dinner, no complaining and was the first one ready to go. Now, when we walked into see Santa, she all of a sudden looked scared. But after seeing that her brothers were very brave, she decided to give Santa a chance. Not before she looked him up and down though. She told him she wanted a make-up thing without a stool. (For some reason Lily says without for with?!?!?!? That's weird.) In Lily speak, that means a vanity. She is also asking for a cupcake maker. She's so cute. I just love her.
 Now, my sweet little Sara only lasted about 2 seconds on Santa's lap. She just screamed. She probably scarred for life. One part of the Mommy in me knew she was going to scream and I didn't want to put her on his lap, the other part said, "That will be the cutest dang picture, even though she could have nightmares about this guy until she's 100." The second part won, but only very briefly. After a quick, but o-so-cute picture, Todd rescued her. What a great Daddy.
So Santa is now informed as to the Bates children's wants, and he can go back to the North Pole knowing that my boys were brave, Lily was trying to figure him out and he made Sara scream! We love Santa.

Broken Water Line

 I'm not exactly sure on all the details but when we pulled up to the bus drop off for the Ft. Bridger kids, a teacher was informing all the parents that the Ft. Bridger school was closed today because of a broken water line. The rest of the district had water and would be in session. So, to make a long story short, Spencer got a day off and Adam went to school. Woot~Woot! Spencer actually loves school, so at the beginning he was upset.
 Then he realized he got Sara and me all to himself all morning. He was so excited to help out with Sara and 'talk' with me. He was more than willing to walk Lily to her classroom so he could visit with Miss Holly. He also got to help Grandma Bates in and out of places as I was running her around. Arlene called and we all had lunch with her. It was fun to have just him without Adam. It was a calm day with only one of my boys. He definitely didn't mind missing school by the end of the day. And it was nice to have him without the constant badgering, fighting/wrestling/kicking the crap out of each other, screaming, yelling, whining that comes along with having your younger brother around. Broken water lines are not always a bad thing.
 In other Bates news, Miss Sara Rose has learned how to climb on the couch. She thinks she's so big. She has also fallen in love with books. She loves the ones that you can feel different textures and has very bright colors. She'll grab a book, climb on the couch, grunt at you, point to the book and snuggle close so you can read to her. This climbing on everything is going to give me a heart attack. She already has the fairest of fair skin and bruises really easy. I think goose eggs, followed by massive bonks and broken bones are next. Toddlerhood rocks!
 Later, when Adam got home life resumed. It was a calm day though, which was kinda weird. Adam and Lily were dancing together. Adam's version of dancing is a little rougher than Lily's but still, they were playing together and getting along great. We watched Space Balls and Barbie (don't tell my boys I said that) and just had a great time together. Life is truly worth living. Broken water lines, Spaceballs, and all.

Justin and Beyonce

I laughed my ass off when I first saw this. It was to funny. I LOVE Justin (just in case anyone was asking.)

Justin Timberlake sui tacchi per Beyonce
Uploaded by Video_Gossip

All I want for Christmas

Christmas Tag
Rules:
You must list 10 material things that you want for Christmas...No World Peace Crap!

1. A Nikon D80 (or better yet, a D300 ...yeah right.)
2. An Amazon Kindle
3. A digital scrapbooking program (for dummies).
4. My own personal Martha Stewart.
5. A family (tropical) vacation, where money is not an object, along with an on-demand Nanny.
6. A completely finished basement, furniture, big screen and all.
7. A day of shopping, just Todd and I, with a reliable babysitter at home, actually taking care of my kids, no texting, talking on the phone or friends.
8. A new set of kitchen knives (mine suck!)
9. A new (or fixed, the red ring of death has appeared) XBOX 360 for Todd and my boys.
10. A fancy schmancy, up to date, big enough for growing boys, kitchen.

Climbing on the Table

There are busy days at the Bates home. Sweet little Sara has become a monkey. MONKEY! Holy cow. She is climbing on or up everything. She accomplished climbing on the couch a few nights ago and then the table last night. While we were getting the older kids in bed, we realized Sara was not hovering around with us. Any parent knows that when a child is quiet, they are into something and it could be bad. Very, very, very bad.
Well, we walked into our kitchen just in time to see Sara up on a chair, dumping Lily's milk on the table and all over her fresh, clean, just bathed self. What a stinker. She was very proud of herself. Big smiles and all. Just beaming with a 'look what I can do' smile. GGGGGRRRRREEEEEAAAAATTTTT!!!!!
We got her down and she quickly started showing us how she got up on the chair. She was grunting and squealing. She first climbed up on the chair, that seemed to take a little effort. Then she almost immediately climbed on the table. Then she gave us the biggest 'Mission Accomplished' look. I thought to myself how much fun this new stage of toddler hood is going to be, full of bumps and bruises, and from the look of her new found adventurous nature, possible broken bones. Lovely. The really exciting part came when we took her down from the table and pushed in all the chairs.
There was screaming and hollering. She was not happy. She was officially trapped. She couldn't climb on the table anymore. Soon, she set off on a new adventure to find another fabulous thing to climb up, down or on. This part of toddler hood is going to rock, and I am so excited. Sweet Baby!

Thanksgiving Pictures

This year we celebrated two Thanksgiving dinners. The first one, on Thanksgiving Day, was at John and Lacey's house with my side of the family, the other one on Saturday, was at my house with Todd's side of the family. The kids had so much fun hanging out with their cousins and eating pie. Yummo. As you can see, the pie was all over their faces.
Look how precious. John pretends to be tough, but when it comes to his daughter and my girls, well, he's a big teddy bear. His rough, toughness disappears. So Sweet.
Lily and Savanna were bustin' a move as Lily showed Savanna how to do her dance. As you can see, Lily is a cheeseball and loves to show anyone and everyone the dance she is learning in dance class. Savanna caught on quick and together they put on a little 'performance'. It was so stinkin' cute.
O' look at this. Joey is flipping me off. Imagine that. So original. But still he's cute. He really is a handsome kid. It's to bad he's such a huge dork that he can't look at the camera and smile. Maybe someday I'll capture his sweet smile. I'm not betting on it though. Wish me luck, someday I'll catch him unexpectedly. Until then, I'll keep getting these fabulous 'flipping off' pictures. Someday, I keep telling myself, someday he'll stop being a dork and smile.
So both days were filled with lots of yummy food that we are still trying to digest. Two holiday dinners rock!